Swedish star Noomi Rapace, who played rebellious hacker Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Abbie Cornish have also apparently had meetings with the Oscar-winning British filmmaker about playing the female lead, said Deadline.

Meetings are on-going with cast and no decisions have been made.

Gemma Arterton, currently on screens in Tamara Drewe, previously revealed that she had been approached to meet up with Ridley, saying: "Ridley Scott saw Alice Creed and loved it. He wants me to meet for Aliens: The Remake, or something."

The prequel, which takes place 30 years prior to the first Alien film, will be filmed in two parts, both of which will be shot in 3-D.

In keeping with the tradition of Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, the main character will be a strong female.

Ridley has said the film is about "the discussion of terraforming - taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life."